“She would give people food if they needed it,” Ms. Burdwell said in tears as she talked about her sibling, whom she described as someone who was quick to help others in need. “Why did it have to be my sister? We just buried our mother just a week ago, and now this.”

Elizabeth Anne Vinson, mother of three elementary school-age children, died Tuesday after being shot in the face, authorities and family members said. Investigators identified the shooter as Randy Vinson, the victim’s brother-in-law.

Kilgore police and Gregg County sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene on Texas Highway 31 just east of Old Gladewater Highway and found Ms. Vinson dead and a man holding a rifle, Roberson said.

The man fired shots at the peace officers before fleeing into a wooded area behind a house, he said.

The man emerged from the woods and engaged officers in a gun battle in which he was shot and killed, he said.

The Texas Rangers are conducting the investigation due to law enforcement being involved in a shooting.

Witnesses said they heard many gunshots during the gun battle.

Ms. Burdwell said Vinson had been living in the home with his sister-in-law’s family until recently.

“All I know is (Elizabeth) had kicked (Randy) out over the weekend, and what happened from there I don’t know,” Ms Burdwell said. “When she pulled into the driveway this morning, he came out of the woods and shot her in the face.”

As for the brother-in-law, she had this to say: “Now God can judge him. I’m glad he’s dead.”

Kimberly Paredes of Overton said she was driving to Kilgore on 31 when she saw armed officers running in the middle of the roadway.

“I just saw a bunch of cops coming at me with a bunch of guns yelling to stop,” she said. “I looked over to the left and I saw a gentleman down in the wooded area, and he threw his hands up, but before the cops got there, he took off running again. I pulled up a little bit farther, and I saw a deceased woman in a green car.”

Ms. Paredes said many shots were exchanged in the gun battle.

“We just heard a bunch of shotguns going off,” she said. “It was bad, really bad.

“Just before the shooting started, there were kids running across the road.”

Gregg County Sheriff Maxey Cerliano said, “We were extremely fortunate we did not have any officers injured in this incident.”

Ms. Burdwell said her sister was living in a fog and still reeling from their mother’s death.

“She just told me she felt like she was living in a daydream,” she said. “I just didn’t listen. I wish I would have talked to her more, but we just buried our mother.”